"Cautious"

"Enough, enough, Ji Ruo. That's plenty. We won't be able to finish any more."

Liang Shixian took off his filthy jacket, gathered the twenty-odd little fish Ji Ruo had scooped up, and said this.

The fish weren't very big; each one was only two fingers wide. But twenty-odd of them was still quite a haul.

Although the two of them had already advanced to level seven Martial Apprentices, breakthroughs at the Martial Apprentice stage weren't a qualitative change. Martial artists had hearty appetites, but even they had their limits.

This many fish was already enough.

"All right."

Ji Ruo reluctantly stopped.

Why hadn't scooping up fish with his bare hands triggered an achievement?

Ji Ruo stood up, picked Little Rosie up in his arms, and headed back to where the Tree Demons had made camp.

"Ji Ruo, are you really going to keep this cat?" Liang Shixian couldn't help asking.

"Of course!" Ji Ruo rubbed Little Rosie's head. "Rosie's so cute. Why wouldn't I keep her?"

"Rosie?"

"Yeah, that's her name."

Liang Shixian: "...You've already named her?"

"Heh, of course."

Ji Ruo looked happy, but he was a little surprised inside.

Rosie's status panel was a bit strange—

[Name: Rosie]

[Race: Unknown]

[Category: Demon Monster]

[Stage: Juvenile]

[Talent: Illusion]

[Note: Little Rosie seems to be a very mysterious kitty~]

What did "Race: Unknown" even mean?

And her category was Demon Monster?

As Ji Ruo stroked the cat, he suddenly recalled a rather unusual fact.

Demons and monsters were very different.

Normally, a demon's attributes improved in proportion to its strength.

Apart from intelligence, which stopped growing after reaching a certain level, all its other attributes could theoretically keep increasing forever.

Monsters, on the other hand, could evolve by devouring their own kind, raising their rank at an extremely rapid pace.

But monsters didn't gain as much from advancing as demons did, and their intelligence was generally low in the early stages. Even after reaching a level comparable to the human Qi Pulse Realm, they still acted on instinct. At most, their instincts might include a few simple thoughts.

That was why Ji Ruo had been so surprised when he saw those Goblins talking earlier—after all, the much stronger Spider Queen and Six-Whiskered Catfish couldn't speak!

Demons continually strengthened their bodies, but monsters were different.

Monsters had all kinds of strange and unusual innate abilities, but their physical strength wasn't especially impressive.

And in the later stages, monsters' evolution might not strengthen their bodies at all. It would only improve their intelligence—or, more accurately, their mental power.

That was the difference between the two.

One grew stronger in proportion across the board in the early stages and wasn't lacking in intelligence, but stopped developing intellectually later on.

The other didn't develop its intelligence in the early stages and didn't do much to improve its physical strength either. It simply evolved at incredible speed. But in the later stages, it became highly intelligent and could master all kinds of incredible abilities.

Demon Monsters were hybrids of demons and monsters.

In Ji Ruo's previous life, the hybrids known to the public were generally quite handsome or beautiful. Some even stood out for their intelligence, thanks to their mixed heritage.

This had somehow instilled the mistaken idea that all hybrids were beautiful men and women.

But there were more kinds of hybrids than just those. Some were ugly, and some were stupid. Yet people instinctively didn't consider such individuals hybrids. If they weren't good-looking or smart, what kind of hybrid were they? A hybrid with someone from the next village?

Hybrids involved heredity, and the odds were unpredictable. That was true not only for humans, but also for demons and monsters.

Hybrids of demons and monsters were known as Demon Monsters.

Because of the unpredictable odds of inheritance, Demon Monsters fell into several categories.

There were perfect hybrids that inherited all the strengths of both demons and monsters; ordinary hybrids that inherited the talent of just one side; inferior hybrids that inherited one side's talent, but whose talent was weaker than the original because of conflicting bloodlines; and defective hybrids whose demonic and monstrous bloodlines clashed so badly that their talents completely canceled each other out.

There were countless kinds of demons and monsters. Even humanity, which had always been at odds with them, couldn't claim to have recorded every single species.

Every Demon Monster could be regarded as a completely new species.

What talents a Demon Monster inherited and how much potential it had depended entirely on luck.

So it made perfect sense that Rosie's race was listed as [Unknown].

This little one was a whole new species.

Still, Rosie had a talent, even if Ji Ruo didn't know what it did. At the very least, she should be a third-tier Demon Monster, though she might be on the weak side.

But that was fine—even if she was weak, it didn't matter. You didn't keep a pet to fight for you.

As he thought this, Ji Ruo rubbed Rosie's head and comforted her. "Don't worry, Little Rosie. Your master won't look down on you."

Rosie looked up at Ji Ruo in confusion. "Meow?"

Liang Shixian didn't want to say anything more to Ji Ruo. There was no point—Ji Ruo wouldn't listen, and even when he did, he never changed. He was still just as childish. What was the use of saying anything?

The two of them and the cat returned to the Tree Demons' "day camp."

Dozens of Tree Demons gathered there. Although they were all "dormant" now, faint demonic energy still drifted around them.

The energy wasn't strong. Its only purpose was to tell nearby creatures that demons had claimed this place.

Creatures that could sense this faint demonic energy generally wouldn't come over—or rather, they couldn't be bothered. Tree Demons weren't good to eat, and the Spirit Fruits they bore weren't high quality. Coming here would be a wasted trip.

Those that couldn't sense it might come over, but the Tree Demons had already prepared Spirit Fruits to "welcome" them, so there was no need to worry.

That made this a fairly safe place for Ji Ruo and the others to stay.

"Class monitor, go pick some Red Heart Chili and Numbing Branch. Oh, and we'll need some White Spirit Fruit too," Ji Ruo said.

Liang Shixian looked puzzled. "What are you planning now?"

"If we just roast the fish, they'll taste too fishy. We have to marinate them first, right?"

Liang Shixian: "...All right."

The vibe of this Martial Exam was getting more and more off.

It felt more and more like an outing...

Liang Shixian turned and went to pick the things Ji Ruo had asked for.

As a side note, the Spirit Fruits borne by the Tree Demons didn't have any particular specialties. They could grow whatever they wanted—even three or four completely different kinds of Spirit Fruit could grow on the same Tree Demon.

Naturally, they also had substitutes for various seasonings. Ji Ruo had already looked around and spotted some.

"Bang!"

Liang Shixian was picking fruit when a loud crash behind him startled him. He turned around and was instantly dumbfounded.

"Ji Ruo, y-you—you're chopping down that Tree Demon! What if they wake up?"

"I'm making a container to marinate the fish," Ji Ruo said, unconcerned. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm only cutting off a section. These Tree Demons have incredible vitality. I can just put it back on afterward."

Once Tree Demons entered dormancy, they slept with their whole being, and they slept deeply. On top of that, they had incredible vitality and very poor senses. As long as you didn't burn them down, even chopping them apart wouldn't wake them—cautious to the extreme.

The previous night, Ji Ruo had been found only because he'd burrowed up through the soil and nearly toppled a Tree Demon. Back then, all the Tree Demons had still been awake.

They had no sense of pain. They did have other senses, but those weren't particularly sharp.

Even if they were cut in half, at most their "sleep quality" would get a little worse.

"P-put it back on?"

Liang Shixian stared in disbelief. What the heck did he mean, just put it back on?

"Class monitor, don't just stand there. The sooner we marinate the fish, the sooner we can eat grilled fish!"

As he spoke, Ji Ruo drew his knife and sword and carved a large hollow into the center of the stump, following the grain of its rings.

Then he poured the little fish, which were already on their last legs, out of Liang Shixian's school uniform and into the hollow he'd just carved in the stump.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Ruo dug a hole in the ground, buried Liang Shixian's uniform in it, and stomped the soil down.

"Class monitor, your uniform's got the fishy smell on it. We have to bury it in the dirt to cover it up."

Liang Shixian: "..."

And now you suddenly know to be cautious?!

(P.S. I've already saved up almost fifty chapters, but posting too much during a new book's launch period can hurt its chances of getting recommended. This is the closest I've ever come to getting a major recommendation, so I'm begging all you readers not to put the book on hold! I'll definitely update like crazy once it's officially published. Xua si mi!)

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